National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) Best Blogger Award for 2015

Sunday, December 29, 2013

In search of "zwangendaba"…the sulfur rock or...?

MJ street healer pours paraffin on his arms and lights fire.

Visiting rural
Malawi, one cannot help but notice some herbalists talking of “zwangendaba” as
a medication to cure stomach ailments including ulcers and not necessarily the
name of the famous 1800s Ngoni King.

According to a few Mulanje-based
traditional healers, “zwangendaba” is made from a yet to be identified rock,
and is administered best when eaten with nsima and for “magic” tricks involving
spirits to make fire after rubbing hands with glycerin, vaseline or oil.

Such nyanga healers
who use horns and charms for matsenga (magic) rituals also claim to use the
power of three spirits to help them create fire with their hands and out of
their mouth.

However for others like the street vendor one in the photo who claims to use (spirits) and seems to rub his body with
fire, they do not reveal how they do their fire tricks but clarify they use good from the Creator to perform the trick.

As for the fire
making ones, they take the dark pounded looking powder and rub it into their
hands to create fire claiming it’s a fire of rock? For some reason their hands don’t seem to
burn with the heat.

In a brief
revelation they admitted they name many rocks after dead kings making some
suspect they might be following ancient teachings of royalty being close to
Chauta, Namalenga, Mphambe (God) and surrounding Him.

Some experts in
Malawi Traditional Medicine suspect that zwangendaba is actually sulfuric acid
for making fire because it contains sulfur reportedly also found in meteorites;
rock pieces that fall from space to the ground.

However, more
research needs to be done by professionals in the field to establish what
exactly these healers use to make fire and cure stomach ailments and if they
are right then that is ancient African science as well.

The names of suspected various
stones or rocks they claim to use also needs to be known and young healers like the one in the photo studied and documented if they are willing to talk.

Made sure both arms had paraffin

According to the
unofficial online encyclopaedia, the Wikipedia, sulfuric acid also known as
sulphuric acid is a highly “corrosive strong mineral acid with the molecular
formularH2SO4.

“It is a colorless to slightly yellow viscous
liquid which is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sometimes, it
may be dark brown as dyed during industrial production process in order to
alert people to its hazards. The historical name of this acid is oil of vitriol.

Another
website defines sulfur as a homeopathic medicine adding that it has been used
medicinally since the ninth century when people would burn sulfur to help
purify and disinfect their homes.

“In homeopathy, sulfur is used to help treat a wide variety of ailments
relating to the digestion, skin and both men's and women's health issues. The
key symptoms that indicate the use of sulfur as a homeopathic remedy are:
predisposition to laziness, a tendency to feel over-heated, a general attitude
of impatience and an inclination to be self-absorbed.

“A 6C dose
of sulfur when symptoms are acute is used for digestion problems such as a
bloated stomach and ulcerative colitis that potentially can accompany burning
pains. Symptoms will frequently become better when eating cold food and drinks
and will generally worsen upon overexertion and upon consuming milk,” reads one
online source.

On the other hand English
translations of the Bible commonly refer to burning sulfur as “brimstone”.

Encyclopaedias also
show that in the Ebers Papyrus, a sulfur ointment was used in ancient Egypt to
treat granular eyelids and sulfur was used for fumigation in pre-classical
Greece.

However, in the
King James Bible version, sulfur is used for destruction, including in Ezekiel
38:22, which reads: “And I will plead against him, and upon his bands, and upon
the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones,
fire and brimstone.”

Revelation 14:10 also
talks about being tormented with fire and sulfur and in Revelation 19:20 the
beast and the false prophet were thrown into the “lake of fire that burns with
sulphur”.

Other references to
sulfur or brimstone include Revelation 21:8, which reads: “But for the
cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur which is the second death.”

In Isaiah 30:33,
“the breath of the Lord like a stream of sulfur kindles it” and in Luke 17:29
“on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and killed
them all.”

Besides brimstone,
gemstones have also been viewed in awe in every civilization and sought
after. Internet sources also show how
many supernatural powers have been attributed to precious stones throughout the
ages.

These include
crystals and diamonds also mentioned in the Bible, including in Ezekiel 28:13
which reads: “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was
your covering, sardius, topaz and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire,
emerald and carbuncle, and crafted in gold were your settings.”

People, even today,
wear stones as amulets for their suppose healing and protective abilities. Bu Hannah declares there is no Rock like our
God in 1 Samuel 2:2.

“All power belongs
to God. Gemstones are all God’s
creation. Romans 1:20 says since the
creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine
nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Stones in themselves have no power, but they
do speak of the power and glory of our God,” reads www.preciousstonesofthebible.com.

The site also
explains how in Exodus 28:21 the Lord ordains precious stones to be used in the
making of the breast-piece of the High Priests’ garments including topaz,
emerald, sapphire, jasper, onyx, agate, amethyst, ruby known as the “king of
the gems” and agate which in Hebrew is know as shebo literally meaning “to
flame, split into tongues.”

Zechariah 9:16 says
that the Lord’s people will be like the
stones that adorn the foundation of the New Jerusalem.

In Matthew 13:45,
Jesus Christ described the Kingdom of heaven like “a man looking for fine
pearls and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells
everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.”

Revelation 21:21 on
the New Jerusalem indicates “the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was
made from a single pearl.”

Pearls are known as
the only gem formed within a living organism known as an oyster.

However, some years
ago on September , 2010 Father Samuel Malamulo, as a lecturer in Biblical Studies at St Peters Major Seminary in Zomba
said the verses have a symbolic meaning in relation to the 12 trbes of Israel
who are the people of God.

He said back then
that the expensive stones mentioned are not the ones used to make jewellery
although rosaries can be made from precious stones.

Malamulo in 2010 said
since Jerusalem is known as the city of God where His temple is and reign; in
the New Jerusalem the kingdom of God will be established as divine hence the
precious high value. He explained how in the New Jerusalem, God will be present
and reign higher in future after the Israelites disobeyed and the glory of God
left.

Internet sources
also list other symbolic meanings of biblical gemstones including red ruby
stones symbolizing blood, love and fire, yellow stones like gold for the divine
nature of Jesus Christ, blue stones like sapphire for heaven and God’s colour,
purple stones like amethyst for royalty and kingship, black ones like onyx for mourning, judgement
and fear of the Lord and white stones like quartz crystal symbolising “purity,
righteousness, holiness and the Bride of Christ.”